A Hospital Thanksgiving!

A Hospital Thanksgiving!

(November 27th, 2008)


As I mentioned in the previous post the Corcoran Clan has taken over the hospital Telemetry floor. There are Grandma and Grandpa's 9 children (Ed, Sean, Kate, Deirdre, Amy, Jim, Paul, Aggie, and Lucy), 5 spouses, and 20 of the 32 grandchildren all running around the 2nd floor of the hospital. The staff think it is great and say that they have never seen such a loving and supportive family. Grandpa is doing a little better and has started intense physical therapy and will soon be going to a rehabilitation center for an even more intense 3 week therapy session. He will need to learn to walk, talk, read, and write again but we are all hopeful and the doctors have said that he should gain a good bit of his mobility back.

Thanksgiving day turned out to be a very happy, but somber day at the hospital. The hospital staff were gracious enough to allow the family to use one of the conference rooms near Grandpa to setup 10 tables and a buffet of food. Grandpa even got to come down and say prayers with us and even ate some turkey and mashed potatoes!

(Front Row: Paul, Ed, Grandpa, Grandma, Aggie(lap), Sean, Lucy(lap), Jim.
Second Row: Amy, Deirdre, Kate.) 1970's

(Front row: Ed, Grandpa, Jim
Second row: Aggie, Paul, Grandma, Kate, Lucy, Amy, Sean, Deirdre)

ME GRANDPA! You baby Jacob!

ME GRANDPA! You baby Jacob!

This week has been a crazy week! Paul, Jacob, Dustin, and I all went away on Sunday for a much needed mini-vacation when we got the call early Monday morning that Paul's father "Grandpa" had suffered a stroke. We all immediately packed up and headed to the hospital. Paul's father is a one of a kind man who can make anyone feel at ease and doesn't have an enemy in the world. The father of 9, grandfather of 32, and great grandfather of 2 is so loved that the entire Corcoran clan have taken over the hospital this week. Four of Paul's sisters (Amy, Kate, and the Twins Aggie and Lucy) all came out from California and of course the rest of the family is already here. Jake has had a lot of "little mommies" to help him during the long hours in a hospital. As you can imagine having a 15 month old in a hospital for 5 days straight 5-7 hours a day can be quite nerve racking, but luckily God has given us a very relaxed little boy and other than the occasional melt down when he is hungry or sleepy he has been great. Paul and I have been able to spend time with Grandpa and have been able to check out mentally for a little while without Jacob needing or wanting us too much.

I do think that Jacob understands that something is wrong and has been very concerned when seeing Grandpa and will even gently touch Grandpas hand or foot and ALWAYS waves to Grandpa when he sees him. Jacob has spent a lot of time with Paul's parents during his short 15 month life. There is one thing that Grandpa does with Jacob that never fails to make Jacob smile or laugh. Grandpa will point to himself and in a very low voice and say "ME GRANDPA!" then in a high pitched voice point to Jacob and say "You baby Jacob!"........Jacob just loves this and we have been doing this when we see Grandpa this week. We have also been going to the mall with Grandma and Grandpa about once a week for the past few months and can't wait to be able to go again when Grandpa gets better.

(Jacob and his "Little Mommies" at the Hospital)

It is all a waiting game now, but we are praying everyday and know that this will be a long hard road that we will all, especially Grandpa will have to travel. Please keep him in your prayers! You can never have too many prayers!!!

I can do it by myself!

I can do it by myself!

11/16/08 - 11/22/08)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 15 month old!!!

I don't have much to write about this week. Unfortunately Jake, Paul, our nephew Dustin (who lives with us) and myself all got a nasty nasty nasty stomach virus this week which pretty much had us laying around on the couch for 3-4 days. Jake got it the worse and was sick for three straight days which of course meant that we were home with him trying to keep him comfortable. Then Tuesday night the rest of the house got sick but we were all better within 24 hours (Thank God!). But as you can imagine the whole week was shot before we knew it.

During our time being sick Jake was forced to play by himself a lot more than normal. Being a stay home mom means that I am here to play with Jake a lot during the day. In a way that is great, but I obviously realize that it can also be bad when Jake wants you with him 24/7. Luckily Jake realized we weren't feeling well (reinforced by him giving a lot of hugs and kisses during our sick day), so he started playing by himself.

He did pretty good, but it is funny to see the baby that you swear isn't old enough to do anything on his own to suddenly not need you. He walked around the house, got his toys out himself, even at one point got me the remote that was just too far out of my reach. The best part of the whole day was when he got out his favorite toy but couldn't find all of the balls that fit in it so he decided that a ball was a ball! He obviously got frustrated when the balls that he tried to use with the toy didn't "bang through"!! We all laughed for awhile and then helped our little guy find the right balls for the toy!

We are all feeling much better now, and are getting ready to head out for a little mini-vacation before Thanksgiving!

What does a picky eater eat??

What does a picky eater eat??

(11/9/08 - 11/15/08)

I have had a heck of a time getting Jacob to eat “real” food. This has been going on (for those of you who don’t follow this blog) for a few months now. At first I wasn’t worried about it because I was still nursing which was giving him his majority of nutrients that are needed throughout the day. Now that I am down to nursing only in the morning and at night we are being faced with the “picky eater syndrome” that I am sure most parents deal with at some point. I have found a few tricks that seem to be working for Jacob, some I have thought of or found on my own and others I have gotten from awesome blogs like this one or from this website.

Now please keep in mind as you read about the following foods that even though it might look like “WOW Jake eats a lot!” some days that could be the case and then others days or even multiple days in a row he could go all day on half a chicken nugget a raisin and a few oyster crackers! YUK!!

Beverages:
PediaSmart Vanilla
Lactose Free Organic Formula
Mots for Tots Fruit Punch or Apple Juice (one small juice box)

Food:
Silver Dollar Cinnamon Carrot Pancakes Organic (recipe below)
Sweet Potato Waffle (organic freezer section at Super Target)
Plain Eggo
Piece of Whole Wheat Toast with butter
Tyson’s All Natural Chicken Nuggets (2)
Cheese Quesadilla
Mini Corn Dog
All Natural Hot Dog
Broccoli Cheese Chicken Nuggets (organic freezer section at Super Target)
Fries dipped in waaaayyyy too much ketchup
All types of crackers (saltine, oyster, graham, Ritz)
Banana
Fig Newtons
Yogurt covered Craisins (dried cranberries)
Any kind of dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, raspberries, raisins)
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Stage 3 Gerber Organic baby food

More crackers are eaten then anything above, but we are slowly starting to move away from ONLY crackers and he is getting so he doesn't only expect crackers when he is sitting at the table. The PediaSmart drink has also been a lifesaver. A single serving has twice the protein and vitamins than the same amount of regular formula. Although I have to admit that I don't mix it according to the package directions or I would soon find myself broke as they call for 1/2 cup of mix per 6 ounces of water. I just act like it is regular formula and add about 5-6 formula scoops per 10 ounces of water. It is still thick, creamy, and tastes like a watered down vanilla milkshake

I know that I have a lot of people who read this blog (I can track visitors) but I don't seem to have very many comments left on this blog (except Mr. LIAYF who is a very loyal reader/commenter - THANKS) but if you are reading this blog and know of any good AND NUTRITOUS things that I could try to get Jake to eat please let me know. And please don't say things like green beans, peas, or broccoli cause I have been there and tried that!!! Jake also is in the "I can do it myself" mode so if it requires good use of fork/spoon technique we might have to wait on it, but good "finger food" ideas are great!!!

Now here is a recipe that I created myself and I have to say that it tastes GREAT!! Everyone in my house likes them and they honestly taste like french toast pancakes. But of course have some veggies snuck in!

Cinnamon Carrot Pancakes

1 Cup of Organic Pancake Mix (or any pancake mix that requires only water)
2/3 Cup Water
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Organic Applesauce
1 Medium Organic Carrot shredded
1/2 - 1 tsp. of Cinnamon (season to your taste)
1/2 -1 tsp of Sugar (this is optional I thought they were good without but Jake likes it sweeter)

**The first three ingredients are according to the package directions, your water and oil measurements could be different depending on the brand of pancake mix you purchase**

I use a TBSP. measuring spoon and make a bunch of silver dollar pancakes. I then put them onto a baking sheet and put them in the freezer (I have a large freezer in my garage) if you only have your kitchen refrigerator freezer you can put wax paper or aluminum foil in between layers on a plate or in a bag and freeze. Once frozen I put them in a freezer bag and when I need them I can just microwave one or two for about 25 seconds. If you want serve them "as is" or with butter and some syrup for dipping! I hope you all try them out and like them as much as we do!

We're Moving Now!

We're Moving Now!

Well Jacob has gone from walking two feet to walking for upwards of 40 minutes at a time around the house!! Now if he could just grasp the art of standing without pulling himself up on some sort of furniture we will be set!! He is sooo cute when he walks around, he is soooo serious! HILLARIOUS!

One small step for man......and Choo-Choo Trains???

One small step for man.....and Choo-Choo Trains???

(11/2/08 - 11/08/08)

This week Jacob has been focused on two things, and two things ONLY!!! Choo-Choo trains and walking! As a 14 1/2 month old Jacob is starting to show his parents that he is definitely 100% ALL BOY!!!! Of course if the fact that his first real word was BALL didn't give it away his now OCD type quality over Trains has definately shown his father and I that we are going to have the typical Ball, Trucks, Dirt, Bugs, Super Hero loving tough and tumble boy!

The whole "Choo-Choo" obsession actually came about from desperation on my part this week. His Aunt Lucy got him a Thomas and Friends wooden railway set for his birthday back in August. Knowing that he wouldn't be ready for something like this for awhile I packed it away with the understanding that we would bring it out when Jacob got older. Now I know that 3 months later isn't exactly "older" but remember....I was DESPERATE! Jacob was in a little bit of a cranky mood, the typical Backyardigans, Imagination Movers, books, toys, etc....were just not cutting it. Usually if Jacob gets like this I will bundle him up and take him for a walk. Unfortunately the day in question was cold and rainy so that was out! I thought a change of scenery would be good so we headed upstairs to roam around and check out the new scenery.

While in Jacobs room, he found the train box and started trying to drag it out, I thought "what the H*ll!" and started to help him unpack the box......

**6 days later**


We now play with the train set EVERYDAY, we are now taping Thomas and Friends on the TV (Backyardigans and Imagination Movers are sooooooo last week), Jacob now is OBSESSED with trains and very quickly learned how to pump his arm up and down while making his own version of a "WOO WOO" sound. And as you can see up top, we have also had to start riding the train at the local Mall! If you click on the tippy top picture you can actually see that his arm is up and he was "woo woo'ing" for about 3-4 minutes until the train took off! But hey, who cares, it make my little boy happy and that makes me happy! I am sure this will soon pass as with everything else in Jacobs short blinders induced vision of fun life!

Jacob has started to get the nerve up to do what Paul and I know he has been ready to do for WEEKS!!! He has started to let go and slowly start to walk on his own. The video above doesn't really do his walking justice. He has walked 15-20 feet to get to places this week but of course I can't walk around with a video camera every second of every day so this is the best one I have been able to capture! He is on his way!! YEAH!!!